


Totally Not A Date

by ShadowCrusade



Series: All Hallows Karma [11]
Category: RWBY
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, no beta im dying like a fish out of water lads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27113479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowCrusade/pseuds/ShadowCrusade
Summary: Day 11: StrollQrow and Clover's first date... what could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: All Hallows Karma [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950640
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	Totally Not A Date

**Author's Note:**

> IM GETTING THROUGH THESE OKAY
> 
> IM SICK LET ME HAVE THIS

_ It’s not a date. It’s not a date. It’s not a date. It’s not a date. _

_ Oh my god it’s a date. _

Qrow couldn’t really stop thinking about the events that were meant to transpire later in the day. To be honest, he couldn’t stop thinking about the almost kiss that occurred with Clover at the asylum. It was very in the moment, and the way Clover’s green eyes illuminated the darkness of the hallway was just...

Ugh!

Great, now Taiyang had even more ammo to fire at him for mercilessly teasing. The looks his former brother in law gave while they explored the tunnels were bad enough when he noticed that Clover would stand close to Qrow. Away from his friends. Plus, Qrow was convinced that the blush on his face was there for the rest of the night. He was never going to live it down and Taiyang would make sure of it. 

Although, the event of the almost-kiss was completely overshadowed when the groups had returned from their ghostly adventures. They were simply saying goodbye to each other and Clover had said his usual ‘see you around’ and somehow Qrow’s stupid idiotic heart decided to take control of the situation. 

_ I’ll see you tomorrow if you can wait that long. _ That flirty side of him was under lock and key and somehow it decided in that moment to break free. The flirtatious moment was already something to relive, but Clover’s reaction only made it worse. The way his eyes widened, the small, well hidden squeak that Qrow had almost missed if it wasn’t because he stood close to the man. The hitch in his breath, the way he stilled. The small bite to his lower lip as another blush appeared on his stupidly handsome face.

Qrow had a hard time sleeping after that.

Needless to say, when Clover had texted him in the morning about any real plans, Qrow was still awake. He suggested a simple stroll out on the dirt roads of Patch to see all the decorations that each house had. Clover had immediately agreed and the two made plans to meet up for later that night. Qrow was excited and also absolutely mortified. 

It was midmorning now and Qrow still had not slept. Despite all the effort he was making to fall asleep, nothing had worked. He thought about grabbing some of the melatonin that Taiyang had in the cabinet, but quickly decided against it. The last time he had used it, he ended up sleeping for three days. He could hear shuffling downstairs and figured Taiyang would be awake. Qrow rolled out of bed and quickly made his way down the stairs. 

“Hey Tai, do you have any-oh.” Qrow stopped midway when he realised that it wasn’t Taiyang downstairs, but Ruby.

“Uncle Qrow? Did you sleep at all? You look terrible!” His niece exclaimed as she ran over to him. “Are you hurt? Did you pull an all nighter? Did you procrastinate another article?” She interrogated him as she inspected him.

“No, just had a lot on my mind last night.” He told her.  _ A lot of Clover on my mind is a bit more accurate. _

“Were they bad thoughts?” Ruby asked, her silver eyes filled with concern. 

He shook his head and smiled. “No. They were...”  _ Pleasant? Wonderful? Somewhat erotic?  _ “...they were good thoughts.” 

His niece smiled at his response. “Well good! No negativity here! There is only joy!” She declared as Qrow could only laugh. “Although, Uncle Qrow...you should probably get some rest. The dark circles under your eyes are starting to rival a raccoon.” 

“Well, I came down here hoping that Tai would have something, but-”

“You can sleep in my room.” Ruby offered. “The heater in there makes it impossible to stay awake once you flip it on, but if you’re underneath my soft blankets then that definitely helps.” 

“Only if I can put on the black out curtains you hide away in the closet.” He said. The sun shone brightly in the sky. He would need total darkness to even attempt to sleep at this point. 

“Fine.” She grumbled. “But only if you promise to take them down when you’re done sleeping.”

“Deal.” 

The two trotted up the stairs as they put their little plan into action. Once Ruby had gotten the blackout curtains from her closet, Qrow put them up and the effect was immediate. The usually sunny room was almost entirely in darkness once the curtains had been put up properly. Ruby had switched on her mini heater that she had in her room as Qrow got comfortable underneath the thick comforter. 

“Do me a favor and wake me around six if I’m still asleep.” He told his niece as she could see her set an alarm on her phone. He already had an alarm for that time, but he couldn’t trust it. Who knows what could go wrong. “Night kiddo.”

“Have a nice nap!” Ruby called to him from the door as she shut the door to her room. Qrow plugged in his headphones before putting on his sleep playlist. At first, he stared at the ceiling as he shut his eyes and tried to relax his body. The sounds of the thunderstorm that played through his headphones soon started to lull him to sleep as he felt himself slip away in unconsciousness. 

* * *

When he woke up, it was slow. He could still hear the sounds of a thunderstorm that drummed in his ears. The sounds became clearer the more alert his body became. Qrow yawned as he snuggled deeper into the covers. He could feel the sweat that accumulated from his body while he slept. 

He had no doubt that Ruby would complain about the smell later. 

Qrow flipped his phone over to check the time and saw that it was close to five. Seems like he had woken himself up just in case. The earphones were removed as he set them aside off to the side somewhere. He decided to just lay there for a bit longer. Enjoy the heat before he would have to crawl out from the covers. It was only a few minutes later that he heard a small knock at the door. The door quietly opened as he noticed a familiar figure peek around the door itself. 

“Uncle Qrow, are you awake?” 

Qrow smiled. “Yeah, I just woke up a few minutes ago.” He said as he sat up. Ruby let herself in as she went over to shut off the small heater. 

“Dad was wondering where you had disappeared to since you weren’t in your room.” Ruby told him. “I told him that you were busy.” 

“Atta girl.” Qrow fistbumped his niece as the two laughed. Ruby turned on the light in her room as Qrow immediately shut his eyes from the offensive act. “A warning would have been nice.” He told her as he could hear her chuckle. 

“Nah.” 

He rubbed his eyes as another alarm on his phone went off. He quickly swiped it to snooze once again as he knew that he had better start getting ready soon. 

“Eww. Uncle Qrow, your gross man sweat is all over my bed covers.”

“Sounds like a you problem.” Qrow informed as he made his way out the door. 

“You have to wash my covers Uncle Qrow!”

Qrow turned to look at her. “Hmmm. Nah.” His niece looked at him in disbelief before Qrow darted out of the room and into the bathroom. He locked the door right as his niece got to the door and tried to break in. 

“You will wash my stuff Uncle Qrow if it’s the last thing you do!” He laughed as he turned on the shower water. Her protests loud for a brief moment before he heard her stomp away from the bathroom. He looked back at his phone to check the time. He was good on time for now if he hopped in the shower quickly. 

The water warmed up as he hopped in fast. The temptation to stay in the shower was overwhelming. Or at least it was until he felt the pressure drop as the water quickly got colder. 

“Ruby! Quit flushing the toilet!”

* * *

Qrow was attempting to fix his necklace when Tai had walked in. The red eyed man only quickly glanced at the blond before he went back to focus on the task at hand. When he finally did get the clasp to open, Qrow wrapped it around his neck before he reclasped it. He adjusted it before he did a quick once over at himself. Once Qrow confirmed that he looked decent, he spun on his heel to grab his leather jacket. 

“I would ask where you’re going, but based on yesterday, I have an idea.” Tai smirked as he leaned against the doorway. “Off to see Clover?”

Qrow nodded. “We’re going to stroll through town.”

“Careful Branwen. It almost sounds like a date.” Tai joked, although there was a hint of something in there too. Qrow couldn’t quite figure it out, but at the same time his biggest trouble at the moment was making it to his date on time. 

“It might as well be.” Qrow admitted as he slipped his jacket on. “Well, I’ve gotta head out, otherwise I’m gonna be late.” 

Tai stepped aside to let Qrow pass, but before he could make it through the doorway, Tai stopped him. A gentle touch on his shoulder. The other man simply smiled at him as he patted him on the shoulder. “Have fun Qrow. I mean it.” Qrow nodded before he stepped out and made his way over to meet Clover. 

* * *

Qrow waited at the coffee shop for Clover to arrive. He had arrived a few minutes early to the destination. He had offered to pick Clover up at the ferry, but the other man had declined.  _ Better to meet at the usual place and grab a drink don’t you think? _ Qrow rolled his eyes at the message. The brunette could certainly be smooth over text messages, although in person, it seemed like he could be easily flustered. He was still seated on his bike in front of the shop when Clover finally showed up in front of the coffee shop. Qrow immediately disembarked his bike as he met Clover at the door. The other man smiled at him as they made their way inside the shop. 

Coco was working on that night and when the two men spotted her, she waved at them and winked. Their orders were already taken care of as the two men sat down close to the window. Qrow looked up at the sky and saw the rain clouds that stood overhead. Based on the size, probably more of a light rain and nothing too heavy. 

“You think it’s gonna rain?” Clover asked. His gaze out of the window. 

Qrow shrugged. “It smells like it will. Although, judging from the size of the clouds, probably nothing more than sprinkle.” 

“Smell the rain?” 

Qrow looked up the man, an appalled expression on his face. “Yeah? You know, like when every smells extra...” Qrow tried to think of the words on how to describe the smell. “Uh...”

“Smells extra?”

“Gimme a sec.” Qrow told the other man as the brunette laughed. It wasn’t a bitter smell, nor was it sweet. Fresh? Okay, but fresh how? “It’s kind of got an earthy smell to it.” Qrow started. “Like fresh, but also just a bit musty like the thickness of fertile soil. It’s almost...cleansing.” Clover just looked at him. “Sorry, no one’s ever asked me to describe the smell of rain before.”

“What did you mean by cleansing?”

“Huh? Oh well,” Qrow found himself struggling to find the words to describe once more. “You know how when people tell you to take a breath of fresh air?” Clover nodded. “It’s kind of like that. It’s more like a cooler spring breeze that you breathe in and can feel the freshness of it in your lungs. It’s like it clears your body.”

“I knew that you were a writer, but this sounds more philosophical.” Clover pointed out. Qrow rubbed the back of his neck as he averted his gaze. “That’s not a bad thing!” Clover said immediately after he saw the other’s reaction. “I think it’s really cool and all.”

“That I can smell the rain?”

“An acquired skill?” Clover offered weakly as Qrow laughed. 

“You realise that there’s actual science behind that right?”

“You realise that I’m from Atlas, right?”

“Does this mean you can smell the snow?” Qrow retorted as Clover laughed. “Oh wait, you Atlesians probably feel it in your bones or something.” 

“It does bring it’s aches and pains if you aren’t careful.” Clover replied smoothly as Coco arrived with their drinks. 

“Alright, you guys. Decided on something just a bit different for both of you tonight.” She picked up a tea cup and gently handed it to Qrow. “This is Vanilla Rooibos tea. Figured it would suit you and the atmosphere from today’s weather.” Qrow took a whiff of the tea and it smelled pleasant. “And Clover, I got you Jasmine Green tea.”

“To suit the weather?”

“Nah, it had the word green in it and I thought of you.” The girl said bluntly as Qrow threw his head back and laughed. The girl left the two men as the two of them took a sip out of their drinks. The sweet vanilla taste hit Qrow’s tongue immediately and the man was thankful for the girl’s insight on drinks. And from the looks of it, it seemed Clover was enjoying his drink as well. The two men sipped away at their drinks before Clover broke the silence once more. 

“So, what’s our first stop?” 

Qrow took another sip. “Well, I was thinking we would start at the Quarter Points Estates.” 

“What’s that?”

“In short, it’s rich people lane.” Qrow muttered. “From there we can get to Watershed Drive. The whole west side of the island is usually where the more decorative people are at.”

“Don’t you live on the west side?”

“Northwest. There’s a difference Clover. Our neighbors appreciate us.” Qrow said as Clover smiled once more. 

The two men continued to sip their drinks as they made idle conversation. Once the drinks were done and paid for, the men headed out. Convincing Clover to get on the motorcycle with him was one thing. Convincing the man to ride with him while Qrow gave him his only helmet. 

“Qrow, what about safety?”

“Clover, I ride this bike all the time and in much more dangerous situations. We’ll be fine.”

“But what if-”

“Clover, you are going to miss out on the decorations if you don’t get on this bike right now.” Qrow said with finality. He had no intention of going back home, but considering how long it would take for them to reach it by foot. 

It was going to take too long. 

“Fine, but only if you drive safely.”

“Always.” Qrow promised as Clover put on the helmet. The man sat behind him and wrapped his arms around the leaner man. The engine of the bike roared to life as Qrow switched it on. Clover’s arms tightened around him and Qrow could feel Clover’s head rest against his shoulder. “Hang on tight.” 

And they were off. 

They arrive at their first destination minutes later. Although, with the amount of looks he had received, it was probably best to simply drive through that neighborhood. Qrow slowed down enough to where the two men could enjoy the decorations as they rode through. Clover had expressed his awe with the decorations and had even laughed at some of the more questionable ones. When the time for that area came to an end, Qrow quickly headed off to the next, bigger destination. 

Watershed Drive wasn’t originally part of the previous neighborhood that attached itself to it. The small circle drive only consisted of roughly about eleven houses with a large lake in the middle of them. They were their own community and didn’t particularly care to associate themselves with their newer neighbors. However, they always had the best holiday decorations and Qrow loved to come by with the girls whenever he could. 

Qrow parked at the small area by the lake before the two men disembarked. There were other people here that came to admire the decorations, so at least they weren’t entirely alone. The first house had different animatronics that were no doubt from the movie ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. It was one of Qrow’s favorite movies and Clover had taken multiple photos of it. They continued to walk around, Qrow was much more interested in seeing his date’s reaction. The pair continued to walk until they found themselves at the very last house. 

“Wow. That’s...”

“Scary as all hell?” Qrow finished for the other man as he visibly gulped. “Yeah, that about sums it up.” 

The decoration in question was that of a large spider. There was faking webbing that connected themselves to the trees in the yard. The large spider was lifted up through some sort of hydraulics contraption that was attached to the house. It would lift the spider up, and lower it back down at an angle. With the legs that moved, this gave the appearance that the spider was walking up and down the spider web. Qrow stood in front of the yard from across the street, and he still felt like he was too close for comfort. The design was impressive, Qrow would admit. But, absolutely terrifying. 

“Looks like you were right?” Clover suddenly spoke. His gaze was focused on the sky above. 

“About the spider?”

Clover chuckled. “No, about the rain.” Qrow felt a few drops of water hit the top of his head. “Sounds like the perfect time to head out.” 

“Yeah,” Qrow said slowly. “Probably.”

The two men quickly made their way back to the bike as the sprinkle of rain started to come down in higher frequency. The rain was still on sprinkling when the pair made it back into town. He had been right after all when he made the observation about the size of the clouds. Qrow had driven closer to the ferry to drop Clover off. The ferry for the night would depart in about twenty minutes, so the two men parked close to one of the rotundas at the park to escape the small trickles of rainwater. 

“Aside from the giant spider from the abyss, that was a lot of fun.” Clover told him as the two sat close to each other. 

“I would have walked through the other neighborhood, but they’ve been known to call the police if a leaf on their trees is out of place.” Qrow informed him as Clover laughed. 

“There’s people like that everywhere it seems.” The brunette pointed as Qrow shrugged. The soft droplets of rain could be heard as they pattered on the roof of the rotunda. The two of them seemed to enjoy the gentle noise of the rainwater. The two men enjoyed the silence between them for a while as they listened to nature play it’s tunes.

“Hey Cloves.”

“Yeah?”

“Close your eyes for a second.” Qrow instructed as Clover shot him a skeptical look. The brunette shrugged and closed his eyes. “Okay, focus on the sound of the rainwater.” 

“Okay.”

“How would you describe the sound of the rain?” 

Clover’s brows pinched in confusion as he thought about the question. “Relaxing?” He said. “It just kind of pitter patters off the surfaces it lands on. Not enough rain to make it deafening, but enough to lull you to a nice nap.”

“Okay, now take a deep breath.” Qrow told him. Clover did as Qrow asked and breathed deeply. “How did that breath make you feel?” 

Clover was silent for a few moments. “Happy....happy to be alive. I can’t really explain that.”

“Now, you see what I meant by cleansing?” Qrow asked as Clover opened his eyes. “And now you get what I mean by the smell of rain.”

“I guess now that you’ve asked me, now I do.” The two stared at each other when more people chattering distracted Qrow away from Clover’s green eyes. 

More people were starting to load onto the ferry, which meant that it was almost time for departure. The timing of it almost seemed perfect, and also cruel all things considering. Qrow looked back at Clover as his gaze was also focused on the people. Qrow stood up without a word as Clover followed suit. 

“Hey Qrow.” Clover called to him quietly. Qrow himself was at the exit of the rotunda, while Clover was still in the center of it. “I had a really nice time tonight.” 

Qrow smiled as his heart swelled. “Yeah I did too.” Clover began to walk over to Qrow. “Y’know, if you’re busy tomorrow-” Qrow got about halfway in his question when part of the drain that went around the small structure suddenly collapsed, dumping the collected water on Qrow. He heard Clover gasp as the water spilled onto Qrow. The now drenched man could do nothing but laugh at the circumstances. 

_ Misfortune strikes again. _

“It’s fine. I wanted another shower anyway.” Qrow said as he took off his jacket. Luckily, his long sleeve undershirt was mostly dry. He glanced back over at Clover who had his hand raised to his mouth, as he tried to suppress a laugh. “Wow, rude.”

Clover started giggling. “I’m sorry! I just-” Another fit of laughter. “It was so unexpected and you were just there and-” Clover’s whole body shook as he laughed. 

“Unbelievable.” Qrow muttered as the brunette approached. “I’m over here drowning under a puddle and you’re laughing at me.” 

“Sorry. I just didn’t expect it.” He chuckled once more as Clover stood close to him.

“Bad luck again.” Qrow said as he tried to shake the water out of his head. “It never likes to give me a break.”

“I don’t think it’s always bad luck.” Clover said as he fixed Qrow’s bangs. His hair was clinging to the sides of his face. “Sometimes, there’s some good in it.” 

“Yeah?” Qrow leaned into the touch of Clover’s hand, closing the distance little by little between the two. 

“Yeah...” 

The two men leaned into each other once more. Suddenly, Qrow found himself thinking about the asylum. The almost kiss that occurred. Except, they weren’t at the asylum outside the city of Vale. They were on Patch, under the gentle rainfall outside of the rotunda. Clover’s lips were a hairs length away from Qrow’s. The vibration of the soft breaths could be felt as Qrow leaned.

And misfortune really enjoyed ruining his life. 

The horn of the ferry interrupted the moment as it was only moments away from departure. It would be the last one for the night and if Clover didn’t get on it now, he would be stranded. 

“You should-”

“I should-” They both stopped. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” Qrow shot him finger guns as Clover laughed as he ran to the ferry. By some stroke of luck, he had made it on the boat, with a few seconds to spare. Qrow watched him leave from the rotunda before he sat down. 

“Okay, then misfortune. Third times the charm, and I’m definitely kissing that guy next date.”


End file.
